Comparisons with The Social Network are inevitable as both are about entrepreneurs whose determination and passion changed the way we use technology today. Of course Steve Jobs’s achievements as one of the founders of Apple computers is far greater and has influenced entertainment consumption as well as computer interfaces in more far-reaching ways than Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook. So when you watch a film like Jobs, you expect that like the Macbook, iMac, iPod and iPad, a film on the like of Steve Jobs would also be sexy, sleek and fun. But it isn’t.
Director Joshua Michael Stern presents Ashton Kutcher as Jobs, a loping IT and marketing whizz who spearheaded the rise of Apple. However Kutcher never really stops being Kutcher. A polo neck tucked into jeans and a contrived gait are not enough to get us under Jobs’ skin. By all accounts Jobs was not the most likable man, and while flashes of that are indeed included you miss seeing the phase where he invented gizmos like the iPod, iPad etc. Even though the film begins with the launch of the iPod, it ends before the process of creating the revolutionary music device began.
Josh Gad, J.K Simmons, Matthew Modine, Dermot Mulroney and Amanda Crew also star in an underwhelming biopic that is mostly linear in its storytelling and appears a little careful not to overstep any boundaries, staying reverential towards the parent company. You don’t get to know the guy or the guys around the guy. So you never feel, never care, never fully appreciate the value of what they set out to do and what they achieved. The film falls so short that you are left hoping someone makes an honest film that does more than just delicately scratch the surface.
Rating: **1/2
